Some unions now angry about health care overhaul

Some labor unions that enthusiastically backed President Barack Obama's health care overhaul are now frustrated and angry, fearful that it will
jeopardize benefits for millions of their members.

Union leaders warn that unless the problem is fixed, there could be consequences for Democrats facing re-election next year.

"It makes an untruth out of what the president said _ that if you like your insurance, you could keep it," said Joe Hansen, president of the United
Food and Commercial Workers International Union. "That is not going to be true for millions of workers now."

The article talks about Union Members being part of Taft-Hartley plans.

It says those "plans" may be in jeopardy now because of "oversights" in the PPACA.

It says as many as 20 million people will be affected.

You would think they would have noticed THAT long ago

The cost is going up and coverage may be stopped by employers.

Hardy Har Har

Again more problems are cropping up like maybe somebody didn't read the fine print

Now get ready to be thrown in front of the Obama-Pelosi-Reid LOCOmotive !!.

Now What ?

Exactly! These are unions for pete's sake!!!! I work for a small company, only 12 people including the owners, and the first thing I did was start
asking the accountants questions about how this was going to affect us. (bad all the way around, as it turns out)
With all their money, they must have someone they could have paid to look into this long ago.
But then again, they just put their blind trust into the government.
Idiots!

And this:

Unions backed the health care legislation because they expected it to curb inflation in health coverage, reduce the number of uninsured Americans
and level the playing field for companies that were already providing quality benefits. While unions knew there were lingering issues after the law
passed, they believed those could be fixed through rulemaking.

Yeh, they pulled a fast one. And I mean fast like it was on greased skids. And they were right about another thing: Nobody really understood what this
rotten POS was until it was passed. Now every organization that can possibly get out of it--or even sue their way out of it--wants out. And no one
cares who's left holding the bag, either. And that would be just us: Those who have no one backing us, no choice, and no options. It's worse than
just Socialism; it's the worst kind of theft and robbery--it's boldfaced theft and robbery under color of authority....

Well, some of us know that if we make less than x dollars a year then we will qualify for free Medicare. Something tells me a lot of people will
suddenly have a huge drop in income once ObamaCare kicks in.

"If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?" Laszewski said. "In my
mind, what the unions are fearing is that workers for the first time can get very good health benefits for a subsidized cost someplace other than the
employer."

Well, some of us know that if we make less than x dollars a year then we will qualify for free Medicare. Something tells me a lot of people will
suddenly have a huge drop in income once ObamaCare kicks in.

That's the problem! We've been fed so much bull-dookey for so long about our healthcare that some will deliberately take a lower paying job to get
the healthcare, when we should be looking at how to make healthcare affordable for everyone even without insurance!

My hero! How many times does a hospital have to charge fifty dollars a night for a $3000.00 hospital bed? After the first sixty days it is
completely paid for. I know about the cost of the bed because we had to buy a hospital bed for my mom after she had her second stroke.

"If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?" Laszewski said. "In my
mind, what the unions are fearing is that workers for the first time can get very good health benefits for a subsidized cost someplace other than the
employer."

"If the workers can get benefits that are as good through Obamacare in the exchanges, then why do you need the union?" Laszewski said. "In my
mind, what the unions are fearing is that workers for the first time can get very good health benefits for a subsidized cost someplace other than the
employer."

It's the union officials who are upset. Not the union members.

Better health care, for a lower cost, for more people.

""It's the union officials who are upset. Not the union members.""

how 'bout when the members get chopped down to part time and have to pay for the insurance
with a smaller paycheck ??

Originally posted by xuenchen
"It's the union officials who are upset. Not the union members."

how 'bout when the members get chopped down to part time and have to pay for the insurance
with a smaller paycheck ??

these problems could lead to strikes later.

Let's follow the logic of that scenario; state exchanges offer cheaper and comparable health insurance, union members drop their employer subsidized
coverage, employers now make more money by not having to cover the cost of their workers, employers then chop workers down to part time (?!), union
members go on strike.

You kind of start to miss the idea that the less money you make the greater your insurance is subsidized by the state exchange. Even if you're
chopped down to a part-timer you'll still have affordable health insurance.

The only reason the union officials are upset is because they're seeing that when workers are gainfully employed there's no reason for a union. If
there's no reason for a union, there's no reason for six figure union bosses (I'm looking at you SEIU, UAW, et. al.).

I wish we didn't have to have unions, not because it hurts the companies bottom line, but because companies exert their will over their workers in
terrible ways because of their bottom line.

There will be some exceptions if the employer coverage is deemed "unaffordable."

If unions realize they can drop their coverage for the cheaper exchanges then I don't see why they wouldn't do that in their negotiations. I don't
understand where you get the idea that employers would still cut hours.

The point remains; union officials (paid through union membership dues) are upset because unions may negotiate their employer based insurance out of
contracts. That's a major part of union memberships, health insurance. If that's gone, these union officials lose out, big time.

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